Ken Hiltner, “Climate Humanists”

We invite participants to leave questions using the “Reply” function at the bottom of this page. Dr. Hiltner will address questions in the November 30 live Q&A session.

About the Speaker: Dr. Ken Hiltner is professor of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has served as the Director of the Literature and the Environment Center, Director of the Early Modern Center, and Chair of the Graduate Program. He is the author ofMilton and Ecology(Cambridge 2002) and the editor of Renaissance Ecology: Imagining Eden in Milton’s England (Duquesne University Press 2007). He is the Director of UCSB’s Environmental Humanities Initiative, and he has developed the “nearly carbon-neutral (NCN) conference model,” upon which this mini-conference is based.

One thought on “Ken Hiltner, “Climate Humanists””

Ken: quite understandably, you contrast culture with nature. In some senses, it is difficult not to draw that and other dichotomies (human v. animal, society v. nature, etc.); they are very useful concepts. However, such dichotomies have been subjected to intense criticism, both within the humanities, certain social sciences, and even the broader culture (e.g., Pope Francis has done so). How critical is the contrast to the climate humanities? Is it a merely pragmatic distinction, or is it meant to disclose a more fundamental distinction in the reality of things?

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this conference do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.